3/30/14

A transgender woman, looking 29, was found dead after being beaten by several people in Guardência Street, near Hope Square in the South Downs together in Joao Pessoa , on the night of Friday (29), according to the Bureau of Homicide capital. The suspicion civilian police is that, besides being beaten, the victim was struck by blows from melee weapon due to perforations that officers found the body.

The crime occurred around 23h. The Military Police was fired after receiving a call that a woman was being beaten and dragged through the street. In the record of the occurrence made by Homicide Division stated that the identification of the victim is unknown and the only object apprehended on site was a mobile device.

Local residents said they did not recognize the victim as area resident. The body was sent to the Management of Medical and Forensic Dentistry (GEMOL), Christ in the neighborhood.

The Bahian transsexual Giovana Souza Silva, 33, was gunned down in the south of São Paulo late on Thursday, 28.

According to information of the 27th Police Precinct, which registered the police report, the incident occurred at about 21:30, between Meadow Street and Avenue Indianapolis Taborda, in Jardins neighborhood.

According to police, Giovana was born in Jucuruçu but her family resides in nearby Itamaraju (distant 751 km from Salvador), in southern Bahia.

Still no information about the authorship and motivation of the crime that is being investigated by Homicide (DHPP) in São Paulo.

Info realize that Giovana be vying for a spot of prostitution when she was killed, but this has not been confirmed by police.

As the 27th Precinct, Giovana's body was taken to the Forensic Medical Institute (IML), located in the neighborhood Aclimação and then should be taken to Itamaraju, for burial.

3/29/14

In what could be heralded as a major victory and a possible changing of the guard GLAAD has responded to the trans communities outrage regarding Rupauls Drag race 'She He' challenge.

The Internet was rife with people upset with Rupaul for using trans defamation for profit, as was I.

But my anger was primarily focused at GLAAD for their historical acquiescence to the Drag shows transphobic rhetoric and I said so here on the Transadvocate and the Daily Kos.. Using phrase 'He-She' promotes violence regardless of who says it.

"When asked for comment on last night's episode of RuPaul's Drag Race, GLAAD vice president of communications Rich Ferraro responded, "While some drag queens may use the term to refer to themselves, 'she-male' is too often used by others as an offensive term to denigrate and hypersexualize transgender women. Unfortunately, most Americans are still unaware that there is a difference between gay men who perform in drag and transgender women. That's why GLAAD will continue to tell the stories of trans women like CeCe McDonald, Carmen Carrera, and CrossFit athlete Chloie Jonsson."

Mr. Ferraro posted this comment on the original planetransgender post calling them out leading me to believe it was just business as usual.

But yesterday, the drag show's executive producers released this statement:

“We delight in celebrating every color in the LGBT rainbow. When it comes to the movement of our trans sisters and trans brothers, we are newly sensitized and more committed than ever to help spread love, acceptance and understanding,” said RuPaul Charles, Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato, Tom Campbell, Steven Corfe and Mandy Salangsang

Logo said, “We have heard the concerns around this segment. We are committed to sharing a diverse range of trans stories across all of our screens and look forward to featuring positive and groundbreaking stories of trans people in the future.”

GLAAD's statement was somewhat defense. They said that they contacted the show the very next morning after the show aired but said that it took time to work with the show.

Fair enough, but what of all these years where instead of calling out Rupaul for transphobic speech you awarded him and pimped his show?

To my knowledge this is the first time that GLAAD has criticised RuPaul or the drag race. That would not have happened if our the transgender community and cisgender people of good will hadn't shouted in outrage. It wasn't gental dialouge that got GLAADS attention.

Sometimes it gets to the point where you just have to shout out loud to be heard and that's what we did. Loud and Proud.
.

""The good news is that we don't have to accept this bill as law – there is another way to defeat this terrible bill,"

"The group invented an online process in 2011 for collecting signatures, which allowed them to petition a law to referendum for the first time in two decades. By the 2012 election, MdPetitions.org successfully put three laws onto the ballot: same-sex marriage, the congressional redistricting map, and in-state tuition for certain undocumented immigrants. Voters upheld all three."

The major player in the bills passage the Maryland TransEquality issued this statement by Carrie Evans, Executive Director of Equality Maryland,

“This is the culmination of a very long and sustained effort by Equality Maryland to ensure transgender Marylanders are included in our state’s anti-discrimination laws. Today’s win is the result of so many people and organizations – transgender individuals and their families showing up and telling their stories year after year, elected officials like Senator Rich Madaleno and Delegates Luke Clippinger, Bonnie Cullison and Joseline Peña-Melynk , many years of dedicated and committed Equality Maryland Board and staff, amazing coalition partners like the Human Rights Campaign and so many more people and organizations that we will highlight in the coming months.”

SB 212 now heads to Governor O’Malley’s desk, who stated at MCTE’s Lobby Day last month, “I am waiting to sign it.”

But not everyone is thrilled about the bills passage. House Minority Whip Kathy Szeliga told Delmarva now

“We need to know whose safety comes first. We should be very concerned about the safety of women and little girls, because what this allows without striking accommodations are possible predators and pedophiles from going in our women’s restrooms,” said Szeliga R-7-Baltimore County. “I think the rights of women and little girls safety should come before that of anyone else.”

Promoting fear of transgender people using children as a weapon is a time honored tradition of hate mongers and bigots but one that has no basis in reality.

3/28/14

Officer Francesca Quaranta, 46, began transition in 2011 while employed by the Middletown Connecticut police. In 2013, Quaranta filed a complaint against the department saying they had created a hostile work environment.

Quaranta said the department micro managed her scrutinizing every moment she was on duty. She also said that she was unfairly targeted for her feminine accessories, the same sort that other female officers routinely wore while on duty.

"While officer Quaranta's transgender transition is a new experience for her and the Middletown Police Department, it is believed that the department is handling her transition in a professional manner," Faith Jackson, the city's human relations director, wrote in a letter to the mayor.

Mayor Daniel Drew said he and Police Chief William McKenna made it clear Quaranta was to receive equal treatment and supervising officers received training on the issue. The mayor said a sergeant also was given a 10-day unpaid suspension over a remark he made about her.

"We've taken this very seriously from day one and will continue to take it seriously," he said.
Quaranta said Thursday she disagrees with the city's findings and was not surprised, saying officials want to protect the city from liability.

"I'm hoping that the state of Connecticut is much more open minded and actually looks at documents and actually listens to what I'm saying," Quaranta said.
A Middletown police officer since 2004, she said she loves the job but isn't sure she can return to the department.
"I think the harassment will just continue," she said. "Actually I think it will be much worse this time."

Prosecutors said an Oregon woman beat her 4-year-old son to death because she feared he was gay. Zachary Dutro-Boggess was hospitalized Aug. 14, 2012, the day after his fourth birthday, with trauma to his abdomen that caused tears to his bowel, and…

3/26/14

The 'transgender' character, played by a man in a dress, is the brunt of transphobic jokes
written to have the audience laugh at him according to those who have seen the
premiere. RTE inexplicably defends this saying his part is a positive role model.

Panned by numerous critics the new sitcom's "transgender" character Nuala Mooney played by cisgender male actor Gary Cooke has invoked a twitter outrage and the Irish advocacy group Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) up in arms. The show which just aired has already accumulated 24 complaints which in Ireland are not taken lightly.

Among a cast of characters from minority groups, The Centre features Office Assistant Manager Nuala Mooney (played by Gary Cooke) who is described as "a 40 year old pre-op transsexual who's been living as a woman for the past 3 years."

Over the course of the 25 minute show, Nuala's gender identity is referenced and mocked on every occasion she appears on screen.

"The Centre is a throwback to the dark ages of television and RTÉ should do better. Nuala is the stock character of a 'man in a dress' played for cheap laughs. Her appearance and identity are fair game to the other characters on the show and their comments and quips re-enforce every stereotype that exists for trans people in this country," said TENI Chief Executive Broden Giambrone."Not only is she is referred to as 'king kong in a thong' but there are references made to her surgical status, her hormone levels, body hair and adam's apple. At no point is the audience laughing with Nuala, they are laughing at her."

Research shows that trans people have some of the highest rates of attempted suicide in this country with 30% having tried to take their own life at least once. In the same survey, 40% of participants reported that media representation of trans people negatively affected their emotional wellbeing or mental health.

The Centre also targets Travellers, Muslims and a host of other groups that face discrimination in Irish society.

"The Centre masquerades as edgy by poking fun at minority groups. Unfortunately, we see the very real effects of how this type of 'humour' contributes to the marginalisation of the trans community. There is no doubt that negative media representation contributes to pervasive transphobia. This has a direct and detrimental effect on trans people's sense of self-esteem and contributes to their fear of coming out."

RTÉ is obliged under Section 39 (1) of the Broadcasting Act 2009 to ensure that:

(c) anything which may reasonably be regarded as causing harm or offence, or as likely to promote, or incite to, crime or as tending to undermine the authority of the State, is not broadcast .

Section 3.4.2 of the BCI Code of Programme Standards states that "Programme material shall not support or condone discrimination against any person or section of the community, in particular on the basis of age, gender, marital status, membership of the Traveller community, family status, sexual orientation, disability, race or religion."

Transphobia sells and the purveyors of hate at this Memphis radio station know it.

The Rock 103 Facebook page has only 40,000 likes but as a quarter of a million talking about it. The radio station's web page is a mix of sexy skimpily clad women in seductive poses, rock bands, and like a cherry on top this Facebook image promoting hatred towards transgender people. Transpanic long used as a legal excuse for murder until the trial of Alan Andrade, who used it unsuccessfully in defense of his killing of Angie Zapata.

3/24/14

I'm sitting far left at a table alone after the others who were there left (clicks)

Most all of us older trans folks remember the days of us against them. Them being the "Gay.com". Hardly, a day went past without one of us writing about the evil gay.com on our obscure blogs.
Who were we railing against exactly? Well, that would depend on who you asked, but for me, it was the million-dollar machine fed and led by HRC, amplified by their gay media minions.

However, as time went by and our integration and acceptance progressed, I became less aware of any malevolence from within the gay community.

So was all that hyperbolic screeds and rants by transgender people about a monstrous entity inhabiting and directing the gay agenda, just that, rants?

I'm here to tell you from my recent experiences, those things we said, well there was some truth in them... Reflecting on the recent events at the the 2014 LGBT Media convening I had a revelation. There is a monster living just below the facade that Gay.com shows to the world, and it's as verminous as it was years past.

I asked some friends feedback regarding my LGBTMedia14 debacle, and one true and time tested friend told me this:

"Feedback? Your continued surprise makes me feel like I'm in Bill Murray's "Ground Hog's Day". Why you continually engage with people that have a vested interest in creating a gated off area, or glass ceiling is beyond me. Folks like Bil Browning (5...4...3...2...1) and Mike Rogers create one so they can feel better about themselves, exclude other people, and provide cookies to the good boys and girls that mind their manners and play their reindeer games.

Feedback? Either accept you need the acceptance or you need them for some sort of advancement of these people. That with that need from them, you must accept that you have to grovel for the faintest ounce of respect, or wake up.

Why you need the likes of Mara Keisling or Matt Foreman to panel you on ANYTHING related to good journalism, is beyond me.

Feedback? It's Ground Hog's Day again!"

After I was on the Rebecca Juro show talking abouth the LGBTMeda14 Convening the following facebook conversation took place. Clicking the comment part of the facebook link will let you see how Bil Browning deals with those who write articles critical of his media convening.

Juro's radio show, carefully crafted to take apart my observations and assert Gay.com innocence fell apart early on. Juro offered that she knew only a couple of the panel moderators personally but that she was absolutely sure that they couldn't be transphobic through insight gleaned through emails prior to the convening.

OK possibly none of the Moderators are transphobic. I never said any of them were. Possibly, it was a personality conflict. Maybe they just don't like me.

I know what I saw so there must be a reason for the moderators ignoring me.

Then there's the last possibility.

Perhaps someone before of during the convening, maybe those who were in control it, let the moderators know not to call on me. That's very possible. I am a wild card radical.

And Rebecca Juro, I was meaning to ask you something. You approached Mara Keisling, Bil Browning and myself in the lobby of the hotel after the convening. You know as Bil walked backwards and stood 3 feet away near the door? You were very excited saying Bil had asked you to do something.

I think that favor didn't go as planned, but Bil got what he wanted a couple of days ago repeatedly using misogyny on my facebook wall in comments about the interview. Yeah I unfriended him as he knew I would.

That whole thing was really painful. I'm thanking god it didn't happen a few years ago while I was fighting intense hatred in the workplace. I wouldn't have been able to deal with it back then.

But today I can I will say for me anyways, there will be no more groundhog days.

3/22/14

Rupaul, the clown in pancake makeup has figured out a way to be even more obnoxious.Perhaps he feels that he should fill the vacuum left by the passing of Fred Philps? Maybe, but hardly anyone is enjoying his last promotional transphobic stunt, save TERFs, who are undoubtedly laughing up their sleeves right alongside other bigots, if they have heard of him that is.Rupaul stepped over the line.

Rafi D'Angelo from Slate said "This week’s mini-challenge left a particularly bad taste in my mouth, and now that I’ve slept on the episode, I’m just going to say it: Ru, girl, it's time for the transphobia to sashay away."

Smriti Sinha observes on PolicyMic that "RuPaul Is Finally Being Taken to Task for Transphobia as Backlash Grows"

Given the cultural legacy of the terms "tranny" and "shemale," it would seem neither should have any place in a show ostensibly celebrating drag culture. At best they would seem to be in bad taste, but at worst joking about "shemales" may encourage damaging stereotypes about the trans community and signal that it's fun and acceptable to call out women for "masculine" looks.
The trans community deserves better, RuPaul.

"When asked for comment on last night's episode of RuPaul's Drag Race, GLAAD vice president of communications Rich Ferraro responded, "While some drag queens may use the term to refer to themselves, 'she-male' is too often used by others as an offensive term to denigrate and hypersexualize transgender women. Unfortunately, most Americans are still unaware that there is a difference between gay men who perform in drag and transgender women. That's why GLAAD will continue to tell the stories of trans women like CeCe McDonald, Carmen Carrera, and CrossFit athlete Chloie Jonsson."

Not only is the term “shemale” incredibly offensive, the clear implication of the scene is that being with a person who is trans is both traumatic and disgusting. Humor at the direct expense of a group of people, especially one so targeted for discrimination and violence, is not humor at all.

GLAAD has reached out to CBS, a network that has struggled to depict LGBT people fairly and that often uses trans people as the punchline for “jokes”:This morning, GLAAD spoke with CBS’s Vice President of Diversity and Communications who is discussing the issues directly with the show. CBS has also committed to meeting with GLAAD staff to discuss the offensive scene, as well as a number of other incidents on CBS comedies and dramas in the past year that increasingly add up to a disturbing trend.

GLAAD is calling on CBS to put an end to anti-trans content for the sake of a laugh and to treat trans issues with greater sensitivity.

Ferraro, this isn't the first time I've called you out for you're organizations duplicity or GLAAD's money whoring or you're latest as you swept transgender people under the red carpet to PIMP Dallas Buyers Club.

WE get it you have individuals to parade out as you're very own anti transphobic champions, with but that has NOTHING to do with Rupaul. It does not matter who says "shemale" to defame, cisgender or trans, its all the same. You don't see that? Everyone else does. Don't you see how you have not only lost the respect of the trans community but are/have become a laughing stock? Borrowing Mr Rosebrugh's headline for a second I'd just like to say:

KFOR Oklahoma City reports that "today an Oklahoma transgender female was granted the name change she had been previously denied.
According to reports, the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals reversed Oklahoma County Judge Bill Grave’s refusal to grant a name change to a transgender individual."

A little history and a painful reminder of how prejudice can be masked with religious beliefs to twist the law and deny others their constitutional rights. From 2012, a report by the OK News Network "Oklahoma judge refuses to let men planning sex-change operations have feminine names."

District Judge Bill Graves had denied her name change stating

“To grant a name change in this case would be to assist that which is fraudulent,” Graves wrote. “It is notable that Genesis 1:27-28 states: ‘So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth ...' The DNA code shows God meant for them to stay male and female.”

Star city transgender woman Kay Bowens has filed an EECO Complaint after she fired for using the woman's room. Fellow employees have confirmed with Fox News her contention that she was mistreated and terminated after a shift manager demanded she use the men's room.

The McDonald's owner. Michael Retzer, at first denied she was fired or that her that her future employment was contingent on her using the wrong restroom. He later said she no longer worked at the McDonalds because she failed to report to work.

Star City AR is located in the south-eastern portion of the state and has a population of 2,471 as of the 2000 census. If the outstanding job of reporting by this FOX affiliate is any indication of the state of our agenda, I'd say we are doing pretty good. It's sad that we still face discrimination in the workplace but as Ms. Bowens so succinctly put it, what's a bathroom have to do with with her job performance?

3/18/14

An open invitation to moderators and attendees of the 2014 LGBT media Convening.
.
I have been invited by Rebecca Juro to talk on air March 20th about the convening with its mantra of 'real talk' about radical inclusion and I want to hear from you afterwards.

My name is Kelli Busey, and I am a radical. Why you ask? I haven't blown anything up. I am different in that I do not look or act or conform to most gender expectations. I am not ultra fem. I am a former soldier who never lost her zeal for exercise. I am unique. I am a radical trans advocate

I am also a radically different in other ways. I have been blessed, as was my mother, with empathetic abilities that many associate with witch craft,
Having begun transition in the 90s when transsexuality was considered a mental illness in conservative Texas, my sensitivity was a curse. Nearly everywhere I went. People looked in disapproval, some with hatred, Those feelings amplified by my innate perceptiveness bounced around inside me like daggers.

However, as the years progressed and the transgender agenda moved forward those negative reactions became less noticeable, and my curse became a blessing. To surmise, I survived by learning to trash the hurt and embrace the acceptance.
But I cursed my lucidity again just a few weeks ago.

What I felt and saw at the 2014 LGBT Media Convening made me feel like I haven't since Barney Frank split ENDA. I felt like a 'fucking tranny' and said so on a post on the TransAdvocate and at planetransgender.

Those posts weren't well received.

I dare anyone to suggest that transmisogony, transphobia or indeed, homophobia don't exist within the LGBT media community.

In light of what I wrote I most likely won't be invited back to meet with the nations top LGBT journalists again, but maybe thats for the best. I will not allow myself to feel like I have to conform to do that.

But then again maybe this is a beginning of true radical inclusion in LGBT media. Maybe next year's critical voices will energize our movement. Time will tell.

3/16/14

Nathan Phelps, the estranged son of Fred Phelps, Sr., pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church has posted on facebook that his father is near death.

I know there will be many who will cheer at his demise but I have to think about what my pastor told us this morning, We are the Church so what we do and say matters. If we forgive this man despite all he has done we will be doing exactly what God told us we need to do. After all, he was responsible for uniting bikers, truckers, conservatives, hippies, transgender, lesbian gay and bisexual people to invalidate, challenge and face down hate.

I will never forget a sign I saw when Prop8 was upheld at a rally.The sign read "Love is love is love is love" and that is how we are winning, with love..

Fred, I pray for you and hope you can find the faith to let your hate go. Give it to Jesus.

3/15/14

Andi Dier. a transgender woman from New York was roughed up by the employees of The Irish Times Pub and Restaurant in Holbrooke as they bruskly removed her from the premise. Ms Dier says they used transphobic slurs and tried to take her I phone after seeing she had recorded part of the incident.

They then stole her state issued ID and had it not been for a stranger outraged over her treatment, she says the employees would have kept it.

Most New York transgender citizens are not protected against discrimination as the legislature has repeatedly failed to enact Genda

From Andi Dier's Tumblr Post:
"The incident started from a lack of competence on the 14th of March; I was being harassed about how my state issued driver’s permit didn’t look like me. But it did, because it was, however I had makeup on. I patiently explained that I was transgender. In response, the staff condescendingly told me, “… that’s your fault.” Demanding that I come back with a new I.D. But this card was not expired. I haven’t had any surgery. And they wouldn’t have told a cisgender girl that her I.D. was invalid simply because she decided to sport makeup that night which she hadn’t previously photographed. This is a clear issue of discrimination."

"When I tried asking for the manager the staff not only ignored my request; they violently slammed me against the wall when I was not attempting to advance any further into the building. One of them, bearing three times more weight, kept charging at me with untempered fury; breaking the door behind him. This was after I requested their names and upon noticing my phone in hand they attempted to steal and smash it."

"They behaved unprofessionally, acting out of ignorance and rage. When my friends, who’d already been let in, tried calmly explaining the situation to the staff they replied by intentionally misgendering me as a “he.” After being corrected they used transphobic slurs like “he-she” and “it.” When I attempted to show my legitimate I.D. they swiftly stole it from my hand, refusing to give it back."

T"hey stole a government issued permit. They chuckled as my night was ruined, along with my mascara. They publicly embarrassed me. They made me feel unsafe.
We (as trans people) are denied access to proper healthcare. We’ve been denied access to the bathroom. And now we can’t even get into the pub."

I contacted Andi on facebook she provided this explanation of what happened:

I was assaulted in the vestibule of the pub. I did not make any advancement to further into the building. The security wouldn't let me ask for a manger without violently pushing me out. They said their names were Rob and Matt, as stated in this audio clip:

They took my driver's permit after I took it out to show them that this was me. I did not get it back until the end of the night when someone else, who I did not know, had to aggressively fight for it. Without them I'd still be without it.

I asked Andi if she considered the Pub's employees action a physical assault and if she had contacted the police yet.

If pushing me, with unnecessary force when I'm at least half the weight of them, so untempered and disregard for physical consequences that they smashed me into the wall and broke the closing mechanism on the door is physical assault then yes. They kept pushing me out when I was asking for a manager, getting more and more aggressive. I was honestly starting to fear for my well-being but my ride was inside. They did not lighten up on the physical contact until I shouted, "This is physical assault. You're physically assaulting me." As if acknowledging their own wrong doing, their touch lightened up.

And no. I've not yet contacted the police. I've been afraid they wouldn't do much, if anything, and was scared the situation would escalated further. Police do not have a good history of understand trans* folk.

Two days after a courtesy ride by Philadelphia police on December 22, 2002 transgender woman Nizah Morris died at a Philadelphia hospital of a subdural hematoma, the result traumatic blows to her head. Her family believes that police murdered her and have received a $250,000 dollar settlement in civil court where it is easier to fix blame, but her murder remains unsolved today.

Here's what we know. The police report on her death was 'lost' and not was not recovered until eight years later in 2011.

The Philadelphia District Attorney's office refuses to make public crucial information regarding their investigation into transgender woman Nizah Morris' murder.

Two police advisory commissions have been convened to investigate. Nether were allowed to disclose what they learned from the Philadelphia District attorney's records but the second reconstituted commission recognizing they had reached the end of their legal tether issued this statement:

We therefore intend to forward a copy of this advisory opinion to both the Pennsylvania Attorney General and the federal Department of Justice, and urge both agencies to review the facts and the Police Department’s investigation in the Nizah Morris homicide.

As much as the Philly DA would love it there are many of us who will not stop demanding justice for Nizah Morris. There is a group of concerned citizens who meet frequently to strategize.

Advocates for Nizah Morris say they’ll contact city and state lawmakers for help in obtaining a state probe into the transwoman’s death.

Morris, 47, became a homicide victim in 2002, shortly after entering a police vehicle for a “courtesy ride.” The case remains unsolved, and advocates want Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane to step in.

At this week’s meeting of the Justice for Nizah committee, members agreed that support from elected officials could help persuade Kane to intervene.

Jason Goodman, executive director of the Pennsylvania Student Equality Coalition, said he’ll contact the Pennsylvania LGBT Equality Caucus, composed of state legislators who support equality for LGBT Pennsylvanians.

“With every delay, more community stakeholders are invested in securing justice for Nizah Morris,” Goodman told PGN. “The movement for a complete investigation will be made stronger by state legislators taking a stand for Nizah. The Pennsylvania Student Equality Coalition will work as swiftly as possible with our partners in the state government to advance her case.”

Transgender advocate Jordan Gwendolyn Davis said she’ll contact Philadelphia City Council, to urge that a resolution be passed in support of a state probe.

“I believe it would be very powerful if Philadelphia City Council supported an independent probe into the Nizah Morris case,” Davis told PGN. “While City Council made our city one of the most trans-friendly in the nation, it would all be in vain if they ignored the epidemic of violence against transwomen, especially transwomen of color.”

Ms. Davis told planetransgender in a statement "I believe that it is necessary that there be an independent probe. With great power comes great responsibility, and the police deserve scrutiny in this case. If the police and DA do not release full unredacted documents, it will be the position of the transgender community that there isn't much difference between cops and street criminals."

Some things remain the same.

The House and now the Mississippi Senate has passed a bill making it legal for a person to sue for an infringement of their religious beliefs.

Here's the unbelievable part. The act doesn't have to be committed, the offended party only has to believe it will or could happen.

Seeking to squelch public outrage and legal concerns the law will be discussed three times publicly in committee.

Source Jackson Free Press "The Mississippi House of Representatives passed the RFRA—Senate Bill 2681—proposal 80 to 37 after its Republican sponsors, in a face-saving move, amended it to create a legislative study panel. The amended bill keeps a provision that would add the phrase "In God We Trust" into the state seal, but removes controversial language that civil-liberties groups argued could clear the way for Jim Crow-style legalized discrimination."

"After dispensing with most other items on the calendar, the House went into a series of recesses in an apparent attempt for the Republican leadership to convince fellow Republicans to support the bill. When it became clear that the votes were not there, Rep. Andy Gipson, R-Braxton, offered the study committee as an alternative."

"It is our First Amendment right to worship the God we want to worship," said Gipson, who added that protecting that right was too important to outright kill SB 2681.

The bill will then go to the governor, who originally requested the law, for his signature.

The main proponent behind the bill, Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr. serves as president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He had the outrageous audacity to suggest in a audio message failing to enact the law would enable a KKK member to demand a Jewish deli owner cater their cross burning.

Is he serious? It's no secret who's under those sheets Mohler, it was your so called 'christians' And yes your ability to discriminate is now under national and state scrutiny. And yes you're discriminatory message is falling on sparse crowds.

Since Jones hadn't been previously charged with similar 'crimes' Ms. Jones was offered a deferral if she enrolled in the Catholic "Project Rose" and successfully completed it.

However, Ms. Jones is fighting back refusing the plea and religious programming despite being repeatedly harassed by police.

Moskal-Dairman is certain her friend was profiled, saying Jones was stopped multiple times after the initial run-in with the undercover officer and that SWOP-Phoenix has video of police profiling Jones and using discriminatory language against her.

“She was profiled as a sex worker because she’s a trans woman of color. She is not guilty,” Moskal-Dairman said.

Jones has sequentially becoming a local and national icon for the woman previously targeted by this program with it's 70% fail rate.

The programs co founder was recorded in the video below saying she believes that once a woman prostitutes herself she will forever remain burdened with shame.

Once you have prostituted yourself, having so many body parts in your body, and doing so many weird and freaky things you can never have not have not prostituted.

No argument there. Once you become indoctrinated with Catholicism you will be forever shameful.

Monica isn't the first one to suffer the consequences of speaking up. Al Jazeera reporter Jordan Flaherty was fired and his 2013 article "Arizona's tenacious laws against sex workers US state's initiative that aimed to improve prostitutes' lives has brought "no real reform" as harsh penalties persist" was deleted. You can still read Jordans article here.

Update!Monica's trial has been postponed due to a constitutional challenge to the Manifestation of Intent to Prostitute’ Statute. Read about it at here

3/13/14

A study on the feasibility of transgender troops in the military was released today by the Palm Center. The commission co-chaired by former US Surgeon General Dr. Joycelyn Elders and former Coast Guard Director of Health and Safety Alan Steinman found that the ban on transgender service was not only unreasonable but empirically unsound.

The Palm Center study which was funded by a billionaire transgender woman from Chicago, retired colonel Jennifer Natalya Pritzker, reported that the commission.....

The Military has changed many of it's regulations to reflect the updated DSM but hasn't done this regarding transgender service even though the DSM no longer classifies gender diversity as a mental illness.

Brynn Tannehill, Advocacy coordinator for Sparta an organization advocating for LGBT inclusion in the US military issued this statement:

"The Elders Report validates some of the things we have seen from our transgender service members in SPARTA. Transgender people have served, currently serve, and will continue to serve - Marines, pilots, medics, foot soldiers, intelligence specialists, submariners, in every field - with honor and distinction. We are more than capable."

The United States Military ranks number 40 out of 103 countries studied by The Hague Commission regarding LGBT inclusion. The survey found the United States low ranking was mainly due to the exclusion of transgender people.

Retired Brigadier General Thomas Kolditz, a former Army commander and West Point professor on the commission, said he thinks allowing transgender people to serve openly would reduce gender-based harassment, assaults and suicides while enhancing national security.
"When you closet someone, you create a security risk, and we don't need another Chelsea Manning," Kolditz said, referring to the soldier formerly known as Bradley Manning who came out as transgender after being sentenced for leaking classified documents to the website WikiLeaks.Source SF Gate

The findings by the Palm Center and the Hague studies will undoubtedly be challenged by the likes of the Center for Military Readiness. Although founded by a woman the center has opposed woman in combat roles and recently derided Chelsea Manning's transition.

3/9/14

Manoj Shahi Monika, a third gender from Kailali, Nepal could be the first documented transgender person to climb Mount Everest, but to do that the 35 year old must first make summit. The climb made famous by the book Into Thin Air is fraught with dangers that have maimed and killed many who have tempted fate.

There is a saying in mountaineering "Getting up is optional and getting down is mandatory."

“I cannot afford to miss the opportunity to make the record for climbing Everest as the member from the LGBT community,” said Monika, who wants to be listed in the Guinness Book of Records.

Monika dreams to flutter the national flag together with a banner of Blue Diamond Society, an organisation working for LGBT community in Nepal, at the top of the peak.

However, Monika isn't the first transgender person to be on Mount Everest, not by a long shot. Nineteen years before Hillary and Norgay successful summit, British climber Maurice Wilson attempted and possibly reached the peak. Little is known or written about Wilson's 1933 climb because she was transgender, or mad, as gender diversity was deemed then.

A transgender woman, Jan Morris, known at the time as James, had the coveted role as the sole reporter on the mountain when Hillary and Norgay made the first known successful climb.

I haven't been able to locate any further information about Monika's expedition but being the Mount Everest aficionado that I am I will certainly update this when I learn more.

Russian punk group Pussy Riot is attacked by Cossack militia as they try to perform under a sign for the Sochi Olympics.

Cossack militia attacked the Pussy Riot punk group with horsewhips on Wednesday as the group staged an impromptu performance under a sign advertising the Sochi Olympics.
Six group members — five women and one man — donned their signature ski masks and were pulling out a guitar and microphone when at least 10 Cossacks and other security officials moved in.

One guard appeared to use pepper spray, another whipped several group members while others ripped off their masks and threw the guitar in a rubbish bin.

Police arrived and questioned witnesses, but no one was arrested.

Source: APTN

"No one was arrested" even though the attack on Pussy Riot violates Federal law adopted by the Duma "ensuring the implementation of the Constitution of the Russian Federation established the rights of Russian citizens to assemble peacefully without arms, hold meetings, rallies, demonstrations, marches and pickets."

Then in March Putin's murderers attacked Maria and Nadia while they were eating in a McDonald's after visiting prisoners in the stalag they were jailed in. Western soldiers, take a good look at the thugs attacking these woman. Its a very good possibility the next place you see them will be on the battlefield. Be ready.